Small Business Revitalization Blog

Today we're talking all things Cloud Computing with guest blogger Linda Gaiao from Cloud VBS... if you've ever wondered if there's an easier way to run your small business computing take a look at this!

Who would have thought that the words cloud and computing would ever go together? Or that this would be where the next generation of computers would be heading?

Back to the beginning
From the 1950’s most large scale and powerful computer systems used for critical applications were referred to as mainframe computers. End user’s would send and receive information that was relayed backwards and forwards from the mainframe to their screen and they worked on a “dumb” terminal with no computing power. All business information and software were housed by the main frame and were centrally managed.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s minicomputers became popular. The trend was now for each individual user to have their own desktop or laptop, with their information stored locally on their individual machine which had the computing power. In business more employees equalled more need to share information across the computers (data networking). The volume of data and the space to store it were fast becoming requirements too.

With the growth of the internet and e-businesses in the 1990’s, high volumes of visitors were performing transactions online which needed to be processed by high powered computers. This is where web servers became popular, and started the move back towards centralised computing.

Fast forward to today
The level of security on the internet and on data centre servers is now way superior to what any individual user or business can provide in house. Servers are now able to host multiple operating systems and thereby operate not as a single computer but as a number of virtual machines.

How does CLOUD fit into this?
In the IT world CLOUD is a word used to describe the internet. CLOUD computing is essentially a computer accessed through the internet. The computer lives on a server in a data centre and uses the server’s awesome power, security and data storage function to operate. As an end user your mini computer is now a thin client (“dumb” machine), which will connect via the internet to your CLOUD computer on the backend super computers.
This marks a full circle in the IT world – back to a centralised computing model.

A true virtual PC!
Imagine being able to access your full computer and everything loaded on it from any device at any time, form anywhere in the world....
With CLOUD computing the possibilities and advantages for business are enormous.
• Increase or decrease computer processing power and data storage capacity at the click of a button.
• Software (Office) and operating systems (XP, Windows7) upgrades are done automatically without purchasing or loading.
• Security is robust and centrally managed (SAS 70 certification).
• Maintenance on the server is performed by the host.
• Services are pay as you go (similar to an electricity bill).
• Lower capital and operating costs.
• Scalability as business grows.
• Thin clients are reliable, need minimal maintenance and have a longer lifespan.
• Access to your business information from any device (PC), anywhere in the world.